Josh Devine

Josh has been playing drums for 15 years, receiving his first kit in his early years. From that moment on it was clear that all he wanted to do for the rest of his life was to be a drummer. It was obvious from an early age that he had a talent for banging and bashing things, and through the following years he steadily developed his abilities receiving more formal training in his teens leading him to fly through his Guildhall drumming grades achieving high distinctions in his grades 7 and 8. His musical experience widened while playing in school bands, from the orchestra to jazz and rock, performing live to many varied audiences. In 2005 he joined the group ‘Aversion’ who had wide success throughout Leicestershire, giving him the opportunity to perform in the areas best known venues. Shortly after leaving Aversion in early 2007, Josh played and stepped in for many different bands as well as creating a project called ‘The Outlines’ in late 2007. Who recorded a variety of material with Josh producing the tracks.

Musically Josh has a diverse appreciation of all music styles and doesn’t limit his playing to one particular genre as his ultimate ambition is to be a full time professional drummer. He is currently studying Music Technology at Leicester College to broaden his knowledge of the recording world, and to help him progress as a session/ recording artist. His major influences include Simon Phillips, Jeff Porcaro, Rodney Holmes, Steve Gadd, Mike Portnoy, Aaron Spears and Roy Mayorga.

In June Josh won the Beat 2007 drum competition run by Toni Cannelli held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield where he won through from over 300 entrants. In November of 2007 he won the Mapex Drummer of Tomorrow competition at Music Live at the NEC which then led to him participating in the European final held at Music Messe in Frankfurt, Germany, despite being too young to compete in this leg of the competition. Mapex then offered Josh his first full product endorsement, followed closely by Paiste c cymbals and Vater drumsticks and Hardcase protection cases and Remo heads.

In June 2008, Josh opened the second day of the largest drum festival in the UK;’ Drummer Live’. This was an amazing experience playing on the main stage with top drummers such as Chad smith, Gavin Harrison, Roy Mayorga, Jojo Mayer and Pete Ray Biggins etc. This led to his first interview in Drummer Magazine which was published around the UK in late August.

In January 2009, Josh toured Eastern Europe with UK Punk/Ska band, Fandangle, visiting countries such as Austria, Czech Republic, Slovenia etc and playing at some of the country’s best known venues. Then in March they returned with the legendary Ska band ‘Spunge’ to tour the UK, playing at most of the 02 Academies and various other well known venues across the country.

Since then, Josh has worked on a number of recording projects, most recently was sessions at Britannia Row Studios in London with singer/songwriter Charlee Drew for up and coming debut album. Singles from the sessions like ‘Sugarush’ and ‘Do you love me’ have had various airtime plays on the BBC radio stations and Local radio as well as being featured on the soundtrack on a new MySpace drama series , as well as various live performances and shows to be held in the near future. See his website here.